


An Old Friend

by SamFullbuster



Series: Prom Night AU [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Buck is only mentioned in this one, Caring Eddie Diaz, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Eddie Diaz, prom night AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23368936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamFullbuster/pseuds/SamFullbuster
Summary: Eddie visits an old friend of Buck's.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Prom Night AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1673404
Comments: 1
Kudos: 51





	An Old Friend

According to Eddie’s research, Ronnie Heflin did indeed live in California. He works at one of the top human rights law firms in the state, his specialty being in carrier abuse cases. Eddie thinks that’s a good sign. If he’s working somewhere that’s trying to protect men like Buck, then he hopes that means he doesn’t have any negative feelings to his former friend.

Still, Eddie isn’t going to risk any unnecessary pain on his boyfriend. To achieve that, he goes to the law firm while Buck is at an appointment to have his leg evaluated. He hasn’t told Buck he’s looked into Ronnie, he knows that the younger man will just tell him to let it go.

Eddie isn’t going to do that. Not if this is something that will help Buck.

He walks into the law firm, his nerves running a mile a minute. He really hopes this going to blow up in his face. This has the potential to either go really well or really badly.

“Hi,” the receptionist says, a smile on her face. “How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Ronnie Heflin. I don’t have an appointment but if he’s free it’s really important that I speak with him,” Eddie says. Maybe he should have made an appointment, but this had kind of been spur of the moment.

The woman types on her computer for a moment. “Looks like he’s just finished with a consultation. Let me see if he’s able to see you, can I have your name please?”

“Eddie Diaz.”

She nods and dials on her phone. “Mr. Heflin, there’s a Mr. Eddie Diaz here to see you is your available...of course, I’ll let him know.” She hangs up the phone and smiles at him. “He’s finishing up some paperwork and will be right out. You can have a seat over there.”

“Thank you,” Eddie says. He immediately claims one of the seats and pulls his phone out. Buck should still be in with his doctor right now then he’d be going to lunch with Maddie. She’d been ecstatic that Buck had told him about what happened to his a teenager. It’d had relieved a great deal of tension from her shoulders.

Even though he knows he shouldn’t, Eddie can’t help but feel a little bit of anger towards the elder Buckley. She’s Buck’s sister, she should have been there for him when he needed her most but she hadn’t been. Then Eddie felt guilty for even thinking that. Doug had prevented her from being able to be there for her little brother. It wasn’t her fault. That still didn’t completely help his feelings. Hopefully, with a little more time they’d fade away.

Buck still didn’t want to go back to Hershey, the idea brought a pained look his face whenever he thought about it, but they did call and invite his aunt and uncle up for a few days. They knew Buck had started seeing someone and Buck said they’re excited to meet him and Chris.

Eddie can’t help but be nervous. He’s never been any good at meeting parents. Oh, Shannon’s had liked him well enough but that had taken some time after that disastrous spaghetti dinner.

“Mr. Diaz,” a man says as he approaches. He gives a big smile, one that actually seems genuine. “I’m Ronald Heflin.”

Eddie stands and holds his hand out which Ronnie immediately takes. “Nice to meet you, and please, call me Eddie.”

“Eddie. Come back to my office and we can talk.”

Once they’re settled in the man’s (small) office. Ronnie offers him a bottle of water from the mini-fridge he keeps in his office. “So, Kelly says you asked for me personally. Not that I’m not flattered but I’m still pretty green if you listen to my colleagues. Did someone refer you to me?”

Eddie rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, actually, I’m here on personal business. You once knew a man named Evan Buckley.”

Ronnie’s eyes widen and he sits back in his chair. “Evan...I haven’t heard from him in years, not since…”

“Since your prom.” Now or never. This would either end very well or not so well. “Evan and I have been together for a while now and he’s only just told me about what Richard Fenton did to him. I am so sorry, about Lisa, he told me how much you loved her.”

Ronnie looks away. “Lisa...I was going to ask her to marry me that night, then she died.”

He didn’t know that. Buck probably didn’t either. “He’s in a good place now, he’s a fantastic parental figure to my son but I know he misses you. I know he would like to have you in his life again and I think it would be really good for him, and you.”

Ronnie gets up out of his seat and looks out his window. The look on his face is pained. “I think about him all the time. You know when I first met him, I hated him. I was so jealous of how Lisa would drop everything for him. There was one time when we first started dating that we went out to see a movie. We’d just gotten to the theater when Evan called her and she jumped in her car and was gone. God, I was so mad because she just left me standing there looking like an idiot.”

“What changed?”

“I was leaving class one day, I don’t remember why, when I saw Evan just sitting in the middle of the hallway. He was shaking and had his hands over his head. Of course, I’d heard the rumors about how messed up he’d been after what happened but that was the first time I’d really seen it. God...he looked so scared. I managed to get him calm enough to bring him to the nurse, but he kept asking for Lisa. I stayed until she got there and she was able to calm him down.” He turns away from the window to face Eddie. “I think that was the moment I fell in love with her. I finally understood why she was so concerned about him. From then on I became so protective of him too. When he and Bobby started dating…” He shakes his head, a fond smile on his face. “I’m shocked he didn’t run after the shovel talk he got from Lisa and me then later on Evan’s uncle.”

“Yeah, Buck told me how protective Lisa was of him. I know he still thinks about her a lot.”

“Is Evan ok? He’s not hurt or anything is he?”

Eddie quickly shakes his head. “He’s fine, uh he got hurt a while ago at work but he’s doing well now. We’re both firefighters and he’s been struggling with not being able to be at work.”

Ronnie sits back down in his chair. “Does he know you’re here?”

“No, I...didn’t know how this was going to go and if it went badly I figured it would be best not to get his hopes up.”

The other man drops his head into his hands. “I tried to see him after the prom, but he wouldn’t see anyone, not that I blame him. The college started and he was gone. I went to Boston and he came here.”

“What made you move here?”

“Every time I ran into someone back home I got pitying looks, so when I got the job offer out here I took it.” He shrugs. “I didn’t know Evan lived out here until the last time I was home for the holidays. I ran into his aunt and she told me.”

Ronnie seems genuine to Eddie, and he still truly believes that having him and Buck meet again, even if only one time, would be good for both of them. “How come you haven’t tried to contact him since you found out he lived here too?”

“I thought about it, believe me, I did, but I just never had the courage to do so.” Ronnie runs a hand over his head. “God, Lisa would kick my ass if she could see me now. Bobby too. Is he really doing ok?”

“He’s doing really well, at least I think so. He’s been working with a therapist, one he saw back in Hershey, and I know she’s helped him a lot.”

The other man’s shoulders relaxed. “Would...would it be possible for us to get together? I’ve been a coward and I need to make it better and I need to see he’s ok.”

Eddie breathes a sigh of relief. A part of him had been worried that Ronnie wouldn’t want anything to do with Buck. “We’re having a BBQ over the weekend. It’ll be Buck, me, my son, Buck’s sister, and her boyfriend if you’d like to come.” Eddie still doesn’t know if Chime knows what happened to Buck. He’d have to ask the younger man about it.

“Really?”

Eddie reaches for the stack of post-its on Ronnie’s desk and quickly scratches out his address and time. “Here, I’ll make sure to toss and extra burger on for you.”

“Mr. Diaz—Eddie,” Ronnie says, a note of shock in his voice. “Thank you. This means a lot.”

Eddie nods. “I’ll see you at the BBQ.”


End file.
